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January 19, 2012

Why record another volume of Grieg piano music?

For the past several years, the music of Norwegian composer, Edvard Grieg (1843-1907), has been a growing area of specialty for me as a pianist. Perhaps originating with a love for this composer that began in my childhood, and perhaps as well due to my Northern European heritage, I feel a deep connection to his music and this has been appreciated by my listeners.To mark the centenary of Grieg’s death, I released my first solo CD in 2007.The recording was very warmly received and was soon followed by a second volume, released in 2009.At the time of the first CDs release, Grieg provided me with the vehicle to expand back into solo concertizing after years of focusing almost solely on collaborative playing. My "dual-track" career as soloist and accompanist continues to develop and Grieg continues to be a part of this development. It seems that the more I get to know Grieg's music, the more my love for it grows!

Although much of Edvard Grieg’s repertoire is considered to be standard piano repertoire, there are not a great number of recordings available. The most famous of the recordings are Emil Gilels’ recording from 1974 (with which my discs have been favourably compared) and Leif Ove Andsnes’ two discs from 1993 and 2002. At this stage in my career, I feel that there would be an audience and a market for one more volume in my series of recordings of Grieg’s miniatures for piano. I look forward to implementing what I learned in doing the first two recordings with even greater focus and efficiency in this third volume.

I am so grateful that my audience continues to be interested in this work. Please show your support by "pre-buying" your copy of volume 3. Details are found here and you can use the "donate" button at the right of this page.